PHOENIX -- Flooring America/Flooring Canada kicks off its 20th anniversary year with conneXtion 2020 January 5-7, 2020 at the Phoenix Convention Center here. The event will celebrate the milestone while focusing on looking ahead at marketing initiatives, sales and product trends.

"At this convention, we arm our members with everything they need to secure more market share, create an unbelievable customer experience and most of all, wow their customers with the best looking floors available," said Keith Spano, president of Flooring America/Flooring Canada. "The team has created a robust agenda combining education, information, celebration and collaboration."

The agenda for Flooring America/Flooring Canada includes the following areas of focus:

Keynote Speaker Economist Connor Lokar

Economist Connor Lokar considered something of a "human crystal ball" when it comes to economic insight and forecasting, and in his role at ITR Economics' he has a 94.7% forecast accuracy. Connor specializes in the construction industry, and will give attendees a better understanding of how to plan for the future with more confidence.

Celebrating Members' Success and Looking Ahead

The cooperative will look back and celebrate its members for their extraordinary accomplishments over the past 20 years. In addition, FA/FC is rallying behind Gold Star Families as its new philanthropic cause -- taking care of those families who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Flooring America members are extremely patriotic and the new partnership with the Stephen Siller Foundation, supporting Gold Star Families, has been wholeheartedly embraced by the membership.

Marketing & Advertising

Co-op members already have access to industry-leading marketing tools, but at this conneXtion they'll learn about the next-level marketing the coop is launching for 2020 and beyond. "There are a lot of things on the horizon this year, including going through a major relaunch of our product catalog on our websites, the integration of live chat, appointment scheduling and more personalization and project management. It allows us to be 'open' 24/7, which is what the modern consumer expects," said Frank Chiera, senior vice president, marketing & advertising of Flooring America/Flooring Canada and The Floor Trader. Additionally, the marketing team discussed a more consumer focused approach to their national promotion strategy, the continued evolution of their 'where friends send friends' brand positioning, and improvements to their local social media and PR programs.

Drive Bundled Marketing

Members at conneXtion will learn about continued improvements to Drive, a technology-driven lead nurturing, lead conversion, marketing automation suite of bundled services, to help grow members' top line sales and profitability. "Drive continues to evolve based on member feedback, and the enhancements we continue to make will help sales pros make it a part of their daily sales practice," said Chiera. "Members who have been using Drive are seeing how it positively impacts their business, and we'll be showing how it can be an even bigger, easy-to-access tool for independent businesses."

Networking Opportunities

"The feedback we hear from our membership is that they gain so much insight from networking with other members and talking about their best practices at our conventions, so we've built in more one-on-one meetings and membership networking that our team will facilitate," said Spano.

Performance Products

Performance remains the keyword in the product category, and that will be reflected on the exhibit hall floor. "Waterproof will continue to be number one on the minds of the consumers with wood looks trending. Beauty and durability will drive the success of this category into 2020. With the advancements in the technology of the core, solid core constructions will continue to provide worry free flooring options," said Cathey Gundlach Links, vice president of merchandising for Flooring America/Flooring Canada and The Floor Trader.